Mullvad is a VPN provider headquartered in Sweden. It was founded in 2009, and its founders have privately owned it since its inception. Instead of providing an email address and password like most online services, you're assigned a randomly generated account number. You can then use a variety of payment methods to add time credit. They have applications available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, all of which are open-source with publicly reviewable code. There are several additional features like multi-hop, obfuscation, resistance to quantum computer attacks, and Defense against AI-guided Traffic Analysis (DAITA).
Our Verdict
Mullvad is great for torrenting. It has acceptable security that mostly keeps your IP address and DNS queries within its tunnel, and it's properly configured to protect you from man-in-the-middle attacks. Its kill switch doesn't work properly upon rebooting your system, as some unencrypted traffic leaks past the VPN. You can register without providing personal information like an email address or even a password. This is beneficial if the VPN provider experiences a data leak, as there's less recorded information about its users. It doesn't have any data limits and doesn't place any restrictions on downloading torrents, either.
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Anonymous registration.
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Accepts a variety of privacy-preserving payment options.
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Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Kill switch leaks unencrypted traffic after system reboot.
Mullvad has acceptable security. It doesn't leak your IP address or DNS queries while you're connected to it, and it has proper TLS implementation, protecting you from man-in-the-middle attacks. Unfortunately, its kill switch doesn't work as intended, as it leaks some unencrypted traffic upon rebooting your system. This is a concern if you need all your traffic to be encrypted after a system crash.
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Proper TLS implementation doesn't leave you vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Kill switch leaks unencrypted traffic after system reboot.
Mullvad delivers great speeds for quickly downloading files, making video calls, and streaming. Its latency, despite occasional spikes, delivers a responsive experience suitable for online games.
Changelog
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
Mullvad only offers a single paid plan with a flat monthly fee.
Compared To Other VPNs
Mullvad has some key differences that set it apart from other VPNs. Unlike many VPN services, you get a randomly generated account number instead of signing up with your email address and password. This is advantageous if you're wary of providing personally identifiable information to third parties. Also, it has a rather unique flat-rate pricing model. This differs from the industry norm of offering discounts for purchasing multi-month or year-long plans.
Privacy-concerned users appreciate Mullvad's transparency, frequent publication of incidents, community interaction, and open-source software. These practices make it a standout choice among other VPN services.
To see which services we recommend, check out our article on the best VPNs.
Test Results
Upon creating your account, you're assigned a randomly generated account number, which is the only identifier required to use the service. You can pay with cash, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Monero, bank wire, credit card, PayPal, Swish, Eps transfer, Bancontact, iDEAL, and Przelewy24 to load time onto your account.
The kill switch doesn't work as intended, as network traffic leaks outside the VPN tunnel after a reboot. This can be problematic if you're concerned with keeping your traffic encrypted at all times, like if your system freezes and you have to restart it.
Like most VPN services, this VPN doesn't implement BGP properly.
Mullvad has consistent download speeds that are fast enough for relatively fast downloads, 4k video streaming, and general browsing.
Mullvad delivers consistent upload speeds that are suitable for tasks like video calls or quickly uploading files.
This VPN has pretty low and consistent latency, so it's snappy while browsing the web or playing games. That said, there are occasional latency spikes that could be disruptive for video calls or online gaming.
In addition to native Windows and macOS apps, Mullvad VPN is available via their repository servers for Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora Linux distributions. If you're using an unsupported Linux distribution, you can download the .deb or .rpm files manually.
This VPN also has mobile apps available on iOS and Android.
Mullvad VPN has announced that it will remove OpenVPN support in January 2026. See their blog post for more details.
Mullvad's website has a page that shows real-time info on server status, service issues, and scheduled maintenance.
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Comments
Mullvad: Main Discussion
Let us know why you want us to review the product here, or encourage others to vote for this product.
- 32120
Hey, did you enable Mullvad’s Lockdown Mode ? I feel this should be mentioned in the article.
Hey!
Yes, we always enabled the most secure version of the kill-switch for each VPN. You can check out the main R&D article we put out talking more in detail about these settings, though I’ll forward this to the writing team to see if we’d mention it in the reviews themselves.
Thanks for the interest in our review!
- 21010
Hey, did you enable Mullvad’s Lockdown Mode ? I feel this should be mentioned in the article.
- 32120
Mullvad doesn’t allow for port forwarding which hinders torrent seeding. Shouldn’t this affect the score?
Hey!
Currently, we don’t look at port forwarding as a feature yet. I know it’s a feature that a lot of people care about and I’ve already added it to our suggestions for the next test bench update on VPNs.
That said, our ‘perfect’ score on the Downloads box in the review is a 9.5 because we feel we’re not at a state where we can say an aspect of the VPN is a real 10/10 when it comes to that test. But, we’re happy to iterate upon our testing in the future to make sure we hit everything that matters when it comes to a VPN.
- 32120
Mullvad doesn’t allow for port forwarding which hinders torrent seeding. Shouldn’t this affect the score?
The full review has been posted here. Let us know what you think!